May 3, 2005
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Maryland athletic trainer J.J. Bush, who is now serving in his 33rd year at the University, was inducted into the Maryland Athletic Trainers Association (MATA) inaugural Hall of Fame on Monday evening. Bush, a University of Maryland 30-Year Service Award Winner, is the head athletic trainer for Terrapin men's basketball after a long tenure with numerous other Maryland teams.
Bush was honored by the MATA for his longstanding service and dedication to the athletic training profession. A founding member of MATA, Bush is credited as the author of the organization's constitution and by-laws.
As the trainer for the men's basketball team, Bush coordinates the daily medical treatments for all the players and supervises all rehabilitative efforts in cases of injury. In the last 13 years Bush has accompanied the Terrapins to 11 NCAA Tournaments, including seven Sweet Sixteen appearances, two Final Fours and the national title game in 2002.
Bush came to the university in 1972 as an assistant trainer and began working immediately with the men's basketball team. The team won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championship in 1975 and averaged 23 wins per season during his first four-year stint.
From 1976 until 1992, Bush served as the head trainer of the Terrapin football team, which claimed four ACC championships and played in nine bowl games during that era. In 1992 he returned to Cole Field House and the basketball team as an assistant to the athletics director.
In addition to his training duties, Bush teaches basic and advanced courses on care and prevention of athletic injuries in Maryland's College of Health and Human Performance, and is a frequent lecturer throughout the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
Bush is active in the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA), and has worked extensively within the organization on improving athletic training methods. He has served on the governmental affairs committee at the national level and is a past president of the Maryland Athletic Trainers Association.
A native of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Bush, 56, graduated from Florida State University in 1969. He and his wife Gina have two children, Brandon and Jordan, and reside in University Park, Md.
